


How to Train Your Space Dragon

by catch_you_later



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Aliens, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Space, Astronauts, Dragons, First Meetings, Gen, IN SPACE!, Space Stations, do not copy to another site
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-21
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2019-11-27 00:40:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18187604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catch_you_later/pseuds/catch_you_later
Summary: Hiccup is on a regular check-up and research flight at the new space station, when something unexpected happens.Aka Toothless the Space Dragon and Hiccup the Astronaut Who Found Him





	1. Test Flight

**Author's Note:**

> This was made for a tumblr prompt by ashleybenlove and learning-to-fly-on-my-own
> 
> Here are their tumblrs, go show some love <3  
> http://ashleybenlove.tumblr.com/  
> https://learning-to-fly-on-my-own.tumblr.com/
> 
> Un-betaed

The access panel blips and the door opens with a hiss.

 

He wiggles through the door, closes it from inside and drops heavily to his feet as the gravitation field activates again.

 

Sometimes he hates the all-encompassing pressure that weighs down every living being on the water-dirt-thing called Earth. It reminds him too much of the invisible pressures pushed on him every day by his father, by his peers, by the damn BERC Council. 

 

Most of the time, he just wants to fly among the stars. Weightless, uncaring of gravity, simply... _free_.

 

Not weighed down by expectations, regulations, self-doubt, all that.

 

Nevertheless, human souls aren't meant to be unburdened so he gusts out a frustrated breath, and makes his way to the bridge.

 

* * *

 

"All clear. The sensors were all in _stellar_ condition."

 

"Then where did that shadow come from?" snaps the Captain.

 

Hiccup just spreads his hands and shrugs helplessly. 

 

"It was probably just a malfunction. Ugh,  _so boring_!" Ruffnut groans from her chair at the nav screens.

 

The Captain just harrumphs skeptically and Hiccup feels like he's failed once again.

 

"Permission to continue the flight, sir?" comes the no-nonsense voice of the pilot.

 

"At your leisure, Hofferson," the Captain grunts.

 

The blonde nods and starts firing up the engines.

 

Hiccup very stealthily slides away as his dad is occupied by overseeing the busy bridge.

 

It's not like they need him here.

 

* * *

 

The rest of the journey through the meteor belt surrounding Helheim is uneventful, and they manage to dock to the Horrendous station without any more glitches.

 

They unpack, run a few preliminary tests to ensure that the station's life support and other vital systems still work as intended before bunking down for the night.

 

Everyone else except Hiccup, that is.

 

See, there is one specific reason (besides his love of the stars) why he goes to as many planetary flights as he can, even ones led by his father. He is, first and foremost, a cybernetics engineer. And as such, he often _creates_ things. Things he maybe shouldn't. Things that he has never shown anyone, not even his own mentor.

 

Things he knows he would only get to try on real extraterrestial conditions after  _light years_ of paperwork.

 

So he keeps them a secret. Sacrifices some of his engineering equipment and rations to pack his inventions instead. Makes up a device to cheat the NASA scanners to smuggle his equipment in without detection.

 

Sneaks away from the station when his crew mates are asleep.

 

His heart jack-rabbits against his ribs as he pulls on the culmination of his innovations so far.

 

The air lock hisses ominously as he steps over the threshold, onto the surface of Helheim.

 

He holds his breath for 10 seconds. 

 

15.

 

20.

 

30.

 

A minute.

 

Nothing happens.

 

His enforced, multi-function suit holds up admirably in the slightly heavier gravity and the extreme heat. Hiccup feels something almost like pride begin to swell in his chest, a small, goofy grin stretching the corners of his mouth. Maybe this will work, after all.

 

He starts to walk carefully away from the space station. He needs to get far enough away to start the next phase of testing.

 

Around three kilometers later, he has passed the range of the space station's primary sensors. If someone activates the long-distance ones, he is screwed. But seeing as all the others are supposed to be asleep, he figures it should be okay.

 

After finding a good, steep ledge, he stops.

 

For a moment, Hiccup scans the foreign landscape around him, appreciating the stark, black ash dunes and rock formations half-hidden in the mist.

 

Helheim is a volcanic planet. It has a heavier gravity than Earth, and its surface is mostly composed of tephra, lapilli, ashes and other volcanic rocks. The air consists of 31,5 % oxygen, 64,9 % nitrogen, 1,6 % sulfur and 2 % carbon dioxide, making the air filters on Hiccup's suit fulfill their purpose in saving his life. On the colder parts of the planet - mainly its poles - there are large bodies of water and even some plants. The Horrendous station is located on one of these colder areas, to avoid the occasional volcanic eruptions that happen on the middle circuit.

 

Most of the planet is still unnamed, but below him roars one of the few named rivers on this planet. Styx crashes and rages in the bottom of the ravine, named after the boundary river between Earth and the Underworld in the Greek mythology.

 

He sincerely hopes the name isn't an augury about the fate of his little trial here.

 

Taking a deep breath, he runs a quick diagnostic check on the operation systems of the suit. When all seem to be clear, he braces himself and says:

 

" _Inferno_ , activate!"

 

The suit bursts into movement.

 

Small, compact engines on his back, along his arms and on the soles of his boots shoot him instantly to the heavy ash clouds hanging low on Helheim's black sky. 

 

"Whoa! Not so fast! _Hover Mode!_ "

 

 _The Inferno_ takes a moment to depict his orders, and before it can react, the radar flashes red as something large and impossibly fast crashes into him.

 

Together they tumble off the sky.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BERC comes from "Bureau of Earthbound Researchers of the Cosmos"


	2. First Contact

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Un-betaed.

The fall is all adrenaline rush, flailing around, bumping into the mysterious  _something_ , trying desperately to get the engines to restart. Flashes of a fast-approaching deep crater.  ~~And a long, horrified scream.~~

 

Crashing into the ground is _pain_ , _agony_ , _fear_ , _hurt_ , all tangled together.

 

For a long time, he just lies there and struggles to breathe through the pulsing pain enveloping his body in a tight grip.

 

A bit by bit the pain dulls down into throbs and aches and Hiccup presumes that no bones were broken even if it had felt like it for a moment. He also feels a little trickle of pride at how well his suit protected him.

 

Slowly, _really_ slowly, he starts to rise up.

 

A smatter of twinges flare up all over his body, but he ignores them, propping himself up on a sitting position.

 

"Pain... _love_ it," he groans.

 

A commiserating growl comes from his left.

 

Hiccup flinches, spinning towards the voice.

 

The night-vision function of _Inferno_ is still not fully in order after the blow, so Hiccup only sees a dark, blurry blob at first.

 

The thing, whatever it is, seems to be fairly large and _fast_ , if the reading that flashed on his visor right before crash was correct. The thing had been traveling at  _supersonic_ _speeds_.

 

As the night-vision sharpens, Hiccup draws a surprised breath.

 

_It's a living organism!_

 

The creature is long and sleek, almost panther-like, but also kind of reptilian. As it turns on its' side, he can make out the outline of one large _wing_.

 

Hiccup is immediately assaulted by the memory of a drawing in one of his old mythology books.

 

A dragon.

 

_I thought they were only a myth!_

 

Apparently not though, since there is a creature almost identical to one of the drawings right there in front of his eyes.

 

Pitifully whimpering.

 

Startled, Hiccup called a diagnostics scan, which  _Inferno_ luckily performs with the normal efficiency, drawing his attention to the wings and the of the dragon. The wings have a few rips on them and the sides have a few scrapes, but nothing that seems life-threatening. The tail, though, is a half-burnt mess.

 

Vaguely, Hiccup remembers one of his engines firing up just as he was whacked on the back by something big.

 

_Oh no._

 

_I did that._

 

A deep growl pulls him back from his horror. The dragon has evidently noticed that there is another foreign creature in the crater. The luminous, threatening green eyes of the dragon are fixed on him, its' teeth bared in a ferocious snarl.

 

"S-sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-," Hiccup stammer, waving his hands and flinching back.

 

The growling only gets louder.

 

Hiccup backs up straight to the wall of the crater, as far from the dragon as he can.

 

The growling subsides a little.

 

"Nice dragon." Hiccup's voice cracks into high-pitched, nervous chuckling.

 

A long moment passes where the two just watch each other warily. 

 

Eventually the dragon seems to deem him harmless enough that it retreats to the shadows of the crater wall opposite Hiccup.

 

Groaning, Hiccup slumps down against the rock wall as the adrenaline disappears, leaving only trembling limbs in its' wake.

 

For a couple of minutes he just _breathes_.

 

When his heart has calmed down from its' frantic pace, he straightens and starts to go over the flight systems. When the readings from most of the engines come back positive, he feel almost faint with relief.

 

As discreetly as possible he starts the engines again, and times his take-off on a moment when the dragons seems to be most distracted.

 

With a guilty pang in his heart, he takes off to the black sky.

 

* * *

 

The return trip proceeds without a hitch or glitch of any kind, and Hiccup even manages to sneak off to his sleeping pod without detection.

 

The blackness that welcomes him when he slides into sleep reminds him of the green, cat-like eyes staring at him from the shadows. 

 

The morning comes entirely too soon (and with the unique mixture of irritation-annoyance-exasperation that is Tuffnut Thorston waking everybody up with a crowing hen).

 

Other than that, his day consists mostly of running operation checks on the station's main operating systems, as well as checking if the info lines to the probe they'd launched on the previous visit are still in working order. A desk job, which Hiccup's still-aching body is eternally grateful for.

 

A job also known as Doing Busy Work Which Gobber Can't Be Arsed To Do Anymore.

 

It's pretty monotonous and as such, it gives Hiccup way too much time to  _think._  

 

He had had a first contact with another species - another species that they have myths about back on Earth, _12 l_ _ight-years away from here_! To his knowledge, nothing like this had ever been encountered on any of the planets they had explored.

 

_And he had blasted their tail fin off._

 

The guilt and the awe take turns in overwhelming him, leaving him in a constant daze throughout his check-ups.

 

As he starts to jut out the readings from the probe, he fortunately experiences a halting wake-up call.

 

The log is _bursting_ with activity.

 

There are various high-speed entities that have flown around the planet and the space surrounding it. Some have even hovered right next to the probe, _nudged_ it and high-tailed out. From the number of these particular encounters it seems to have become even a sort of _game_ for them. Like some convoluted version of space dragon tag. Because that's what they must be. Dragons. A planet full of them.

 

Quickly and cautiously, Hiccup glances around. Right now, there is no one else in the communication center of the station. Turning back to the log, Hiccup promptly copies the results to the encrypted portion of his personal data cloud,erases the original log, and creates a false log.

 

After he's done, he suddenly feels the enormity of what he just did crashing down on him.

 

 _What have I done? I should have just reported this to Fishlegs! Or my dad._  

 

He plonks his head on the wall beside the control panel and groans pitifully.

 

For some reason or the other, he doesn't want anyone else (especially his dad) know about the dragon. It might be because he's finally been the first to find something like this, and he wants to keep it to himself a bit longer, or - more likely - he doesn't want his secret, unauthorised space flights to be found out. It's the one time when he feels truly free.

 

About flying though... 

 

The walls of the crater had been quite tall, as he remembers it. And with half-a-tail, the dragon might not be able to fly as well as before. And considering that he was the reason for it, he might as well try to fix it. But even before that, he needs to figure out what space dragons (who supposedly migrated from Earth thousands of years ago) eat.

 

If he remembers correctly, there's some kind of aquatic organisms on the lakes and rivers near the poles...

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plot twist: the hidden world where dragons relocated at the end of HTTYD 3 is on another planet far away from our solar system. Toothless or one of his descendants led them there after Hiccup and his immediate family had passed away.


	3. Interlude: Plotting, Planning and Fishing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Un-betaed

"Heeeeey, Fishlegs, what's up?"

 

The nervous fractures in his voice make him flinch, but Fishlegs doesn't seem to catch them as he's gazing at some kind of a plant through a magnifying glass.

 

"...Fishlegs?"

 

No answer.

 

Hiccup steps closer and waves a hand between the plant and the magnifying glass, causing Fishlegs to shriek and jump up in fright.

 

"AHHHH, IT METAMORPHOSING- oh, it's you."

 

"Yeah, it's me. Listen, do you know if there are any animal-like organisms on this planet? Weren't there some fish-y beings in the pools, for example?"

 

"Yeah, I think there was... Wait! I'll get my notes!"

 

Filled with his usual exuberance towards anything relating to new planets, Fishlegs scrambles to grab his precious pack of multidimensional holo cards (why he bothers using holo cards, Hiccup doesn't know; data projectors are way more spacious and less likely to be lost) and taps the surface of one. An image of a black, vaguely fish-shaped creature swims over the card.

 

"This is a nehalennia, and at half-a-meter length they are the largest fish in the pools. They mostly hunt for the smaller fish by making these _insanely_ fast lunges into the . And! And! They have this cool feature where female nehalennias-"

 

"Okay! Thanks! On to my next question, how much have you explored the pools? Have there been any... uh... unpleasant, possibly life-threatening surprises?"

 

"Hmm. We haven't actually ventured very far, but... I don't think so? At least the scans from the pool structures don't show anything unusual. The rivers on the other hand I wouldn't go near yet. Why are you asking? Are going to-"

 

"Thanks again, Fishlegs, you're the best. Gotta go!" Hiccup makes a hasty retreat. Probably not very discreet or stealthy, but he hopes that Fishlegs will just write it off as yet another weird eccentricity of Hiccup's.

 

Muttering to himself about the safest places to go fishing, he rushes around a corner and crashes straight into a figure in a blue space suit.

 

"Ouch!"

 

"Ow!"

 

As he drags his eyes upwards, valiantly ignoring the pains that have once again fired up all around his body, he sees a familiar pair of blue eyes.

 

"Astrid! Astrid, hi Astrid!" he stammers. 

 

" _You_ should watch where you're _going_!" Astrid snaps before stomping past him.

 

"Where are you going?"

 

"I'm doing a perimeter check _as ordered_ , unlike some lazy, good-for-nothing mechanics," she fires back, making him wince. He doesn't even correct her that he actually _has_ done what he was supposed to, that he even finished early. But he doubts it's going to sway Astrid's mind. It was more likely to make her order him to do even more work and he can't risk it, not right now when he already has plans to make. So he keeps his mouth shut.

 

Well, mostly.

 

"Um, have a safe-," his call is cut off by the door to the airlock hissing shut. "Never mind."

 

With a sigh, he carefully rises up and makes his way to his quarters. He can't go out while everyone else is awake, so he'll just have to get a head-start on the tail since he already has most of the materials at the work room next to his sleeping pod. He has always been a bit of a night-owl with his work, so Gobber lets him have his own work space and materials.

 

Sitting down, he picks up his pen, switches on the screen on his table and starts to draw.

 

* * *

 

His neck cracks as he straightens up and tries to shake the stiffness of his fingers away. He has been furiously drawing away for at least three hours, long enough that the rest of the crew have probably started to wind down their days.

 

The gurgling of his stomach alerts him to a hunger he had been ignoring for quite some time. (He doesn't remember when was the last time he ate. He must have eaten breakfast at least. Right?)

 

Groaning at the pains yet again flaring to life as he rises up, he digs up some rations from his personal stash and scarfs them down absentmindedly. 

 

He likes what he has come up with. The tail will be made of firm nanoleather and light, thin rods made from non-conductive material; tough enough to withstand the harshest of winds yet clever enough to respond to even the smallest stimuli from the rest of the tail. It has motion sensors and an algorithm predicting possible flight patterns so it can calculate the correct movements it needs to make.

 

Hiccup nods at himself. 

 

"Now, if only I can make this work..."

 

Satisfied with his progress so far, he puts on his flight suit, grabs a bag and sneaks out.

 

He has a feeling that this night is going to be a long one.

 

* * *

 

Several hours later, he is laying on the edge of the crater with a hard-earned bagful of extraterrestrial versions of fish beside him.

 

It had been surprisingly difficult to catch the slippery fish even with his tracking programs because they kept slipping through his grip and he hadn't been smart enough to bring anything to spear them with. However, after a long and arduous struggle against the nehalennia, he had emerged as the winner.

 

Now he just has to get the fish to the dragon pacing in the crater across from him.

 

Apprehension and dread shiver through him as he observes.

 

The plan is straightforward. Dive in, leave the fish, high-tail out. Nice and simple, right?

 

Except that Hiccup had apparently underestimated the dragon's healing rate. He had thought it would still be delirious with pain or possibly out cold, so he could just slip the fish nearby and leave. Yet the dragon seems to be very much awake and aware and in a much better condition than before. He doesn't know if dragons have some weird kind of physical feature accelerating their recovery or if they actually have some sort of magic, like the old folk tales claimed. On second thought, probably not. It is much more likely that they have some mild regenerative abilities or possibly antibiotic or disinfectant spit or something...

 

Nevertheless, this complicated things.

 

Taking a deep breath, Hiccup braces himself, sets his engines to the quietest hum possible and starts his descend to the bottom of the crater.


	4. Second Contact: Forbidden Friendship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Un-betaed

Half-way down the crater wall, the dragon's eerie eyes hone in on him.

 

He freezes, only now realising that he could have just flown over the crater and dropped the fish down.

 

But... there is something that seems to be luring him to face the dragon head-on. It may be the excessive curiosity he possesses or the adrenaline-tinged exhilaration of finding something new. Yet none of those quite fit. There's just something very intriguing and kind of _familiar_ in the dragon. It hadn't really behaved like a wounded and cornered animal would have when he had landed next to it yesterday. Of course, it _is_ an alien and not an animal, so it might not follow the same patterns of behavior as Earth residents.

 

In any case, after wounding it and intruding on its space (as evidenced by the snarling), Hiccup had represented a threat and as such, the universal response usually is to _attack_.

 

But the dragon _hadn't_ attacked him.

 

It is an enigma wrapped in mystery that Hiccup intends to solve.

 

His hypothesis about the dragon's incomprehensibly non-violent nature is proved right when the dragon doesn't immediately assault him after he lands on the ground. Instead, it just keeps a wary eye on him and...sniffs a little?

 

"Oh! You are probably smelling the nice little nehalennians I have in my bag. I hope these are okay for you to eat!" Hiccup laughs nervously and takes one from his bag to offer the dragon.

 

The sleek black form slowly starts emerging from the shadows, following the water-line of the small pond that has formed on the bottom of the crater. It advances carefully, one cautious step at a time, constantly casting hesitant, guarded glances from Hiccup's hands to his visor-covered face. It seems to be reading his earnest facial expression from behind the clear visor somehow (or maybe it can read his thoughts or smell his emotions through his suit or something, who knows) and trusting what it sees since very soon it is right before him.

 

A tentative reach, a big cavernous mouth opening, looking like any other predator's back on Earth, except-

 

"Huh. Toothless. I could've sworn you had-"

 

Just as he finishes saying that, the dragon's teeth emerge with a sharp noise and quick-as-lighting it snatches the nehallenia from his hand and swallows it whole.

 

"-teeth."

 

Hiccup gulps in unease, but the dragon surprises him again. 

 

It resumes its advance, following Hiccup as he retreats, an almost - dare he think it -  _curious_ look on its face.

 

(Hiccup is astonished. He didn't know dragons could have such expressive faces.)

 

"W-wait! I'll give you the rest, just wait a second!"

 

Hurriedly, he grabs his bag and overthrows it between him and the dragon. The dragon pounces on the fish and starts gobbling them up with unmistakable delight. With shark-like formidable teeth.

 

"Huh. So you have...retractable teeth?"

 

The pile of nehalennia vanishes at record speed, and before he has fully completed the procession of the previous events, the dragon approaches again, pupils dilated and looking surprisingly friendly.

 

"U-um... I don't... I don't have any more!"

 

As his back thuds against the crater wall, the dragon stops a few paces away and starts...regurgitating?

 

The slimy remains of three nehalennia slap down into the ground before him.

 

The dragon sits back on its haunches looks at the nehalennia and then back at him, its intentions clear.

 

Hiccup looks at the nehalennia and the dragon incredulously.  _How on earth am I going to make a dragon think that I ate something that's probably unfit for human consumption?_

 

"Uh...," his gaze flashes from the fish to everywhere in the crater except the dragon's expectant expression.

 

Looking down at his hands, he gets an idea.

 

He takes the nehalennia and very, very slowly starts to heat them up between the engines on his palms.

 

The dragon tilts its head inquiringly.

 

Hiccup pulses the engines once, turning the nehalennia into thick ash, brings the ash to his mouth filter and breathes in.

 

The filters clear any harmful substances, but some of the ash still passes through, causing a violent coughing fit. Eventually though, the coughing subsides into wheezing and a couple of violent shudders. After wiping his visor, filter and neck from the excess ash, he smiles in relief.

 

The dragon narrows its eyes attentively. It opens its maw again, but this time only a little bit, stretching one corner of the mouth and then the second, creating the amazingly bizarre replica of a goofy, gummy smile.

 

Hiccup can feel his own smile widening in return as he tentatively extends his hand towards the creature, wonder and hope puffing up his chest.

 

However, as soon as he starts approaching it, the dragon's contract into slits again and growls once (oh, the teeth are back) before shooting to the other side of the pond and flaming up a patch of ground to settle down onto.

 

Not one to give up right away, Hiccup follows the dragon, waving awkwardly as he lands beside it.

 

The dragon just scoffs very human-like and hides away under its wings and remaining tail fin.

 

A burning curiosity driving him, Hiccup reaches towards the dragon, only to swerve away when the dragon catches him on the act. With a grumpy growl the dragon moves away again and lays down closer to the crater wall.

 

Apparently there is only a modicum of trust between them, although having even this much amazes him.

 

Seeing as the dragon is settling down for a nap, Hiccup thinks it's safe enough to do a bit of research and maybe nap himself.

 

He instructs _Inferno_ to make a thorough scan of the creature and compile a statistic as well as a comparison to all Earth-creatures.

 

It takes a few moments, but what comes up is _very_ interesting.

 

Evidently this is a carbon-based life form, distantly related to dinosaurs and reptilians. _Inferno_ specifies its gender as male and weirdly enough its age seems to be the same as his in Earth years. The dragon also appears to have a night-vision and the ability to breathe fire and it's probably fireproof as well.

 

Head buzzing with new information, Hiccup lays down and tries to adjust to the fact that he's now sort-of-friends with a _dragon_.

 

* * *

 

 

After a while the numerous thoughts bouncing around in his head make him itch for his drawing supplies, so he sits up and settles for the next best thing.

 

He crumbles a patch of rocky ground into sand with his gauntlets and starts sketching. He draws the outline of the dragon and its various expressions again and again with just his fingertips, and he's just beginning to trace a new attempt on the toothless smile, when he senses a presence behind him.

 

A quick glance at the radar on his visor reveals that it's his new scaly friend.

 

Not wanting to startle him, Hiccup continues drawing the lines of the dragon's eyes.

 

As he finishes the drawing and looks up, the dragon is right across from him, drawing broad, winding lines into the patch of black sand with its claws.

 

To his astonishment, the dragon seems to be looking at him _for reference_ a number of times, grunting in satisfaction as he apparently deems his work adequate.

 

After some twirling and pointed dots, the dragons sits down and huffs contentedly.

 

Hiccup stands up and tries to see the likeness (did the dragon really draw _him_ ), but the angle is too difficult, so he steps forward to pass to the other side.

 

The dragon's suddenly menacing growl stops him in his tracks, and he swiftly backs out when he realises he's standing on one of the lines. The sub-sonic growling softens into a purr. Smiling faintly, Hiccup hops around, avoiding the lines until he's on the other side, right in front of the dragon.

 

Quickly turning around to face him, Hiccup finds him looking straight back at him, the gaze strong and sure, but also very calm.

 

Heart thudding a painstakingly hopeful beat and eyes wide with wonder, Hiccup extends his hand again.

 

The dragon growls again, but a bit more softly this time and he stops right away when Hiccup pulls back his hand.

 

Something about this moment tingles his senses, setting off the weird familiarity again.

 

His head turns away almost automatically, as if this is some deeply ingrained but long-forgotten habit, coded right into the very core of his being.

 

He feels hyper-aware of his hand, which feels both feather-light and weighed down by his hope.

 

It feels like a small eternity, a moment suspended in time before he feels a slight pressure on his suit's gauntlet.

 

Crumbling a bit under the gravity of the small act, he exhales and glances at the dragon.

 

The dragon stares back at him, big luminescent eyes exuding quiet trust and fondness.

 

The moment stretches on, vulnerable and raw, until the dragon wrinkles his nose, snorts and shoots away again with an air of _okay-too-much-touchy-feely-stuff-bye_ about him.

 

Hiccup is left staring after him in bewildered awe.

 

It takes a long while before he manages to get himself to return back to the base.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo, some of you might be wondering why I didn't have the knife-throwing part etc, here's the reason:
> 
> Firstly, Hiccup really can't get rid of his suit since he'd suffocate otherwise.
> 
> Secondly, in this AU Toothless is a partial reincarnation of the original one; he doesn't have the memories but he has a vague recollection of trust and familiarity with this particular human. This translates to Hiccup as well: the dragon book actually belonged to his ancestors and he and the other humans are sort of reincarnations of the original Hiccup & co. They don't have the memories, obviously, but they do have many déjà vu-feelings like the familiarity Hiccup feels with this Toothless.
> 
> Oh, and this Toothless can also vaguely remember the tales the "First Alpha After the Great Exodus" told of his friendship with the Earth-bound human, the tales that have been passed on for generations.


	5. New Tail in Test Flight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Un-betaed.

It's already morning when Hiccup gets back to the station.

 

Head reeling from the past night and thoughts slowly becoming more clogged with the lack of sleep he's suffered these past few days. It feels like his head is stuffed full of cotton and compressed in a too-tight helmet at the same time. Never mind the still-aching bruises.

 

Work waits for no one though, so he just slaps on a multitude of caffeine patches and gets back to work.

 

* * *

 

The next few days pass by in a flurry of sleep deprivation, avoiding all human interaction, discreetly removing all signs of dragons from the logs, building Toothless (yes, it's a silly name, but somehow he had felt that it fit his new friend) a couple of different versions of a new tail and testing them during the nights after catching him another bagful of space fish.

 

The first one hadn't worked quite as intended. It hadn't read Toothless' muscles as finely as it should have, resulting in a crash into the pond.

 

The second one had glitched, sticking in only one position.

 

The third one though, the third one had been quite successful.

 

Hiccup had tested it himself, flying around in the atmosphere and testing how the tail reacted to different speeds and later adjusting the tail accordingly. He had had his work table covered in notes and more than one recorded simulation of the tail saved in his data cloud.

 

The amount of satisfaction Hiccup had gotten when Toothless had finally been able to shoot out of the crater had been immense. Indescribable. He had sunk onto the ground and possibly even blacked out for a bit under the strength of his relief.

 

_I fixed it. I actually fixed it._

 

Now all he can do is watch as the black dragon makes impossibly tight turns, flying tricks and loops over the crater. The absolute joy and energy in his movements is clear and for a moment Hiccup is reminded of the first time he tested _Inferno_. Feeling so weightless, so light, so overwhelmingly _free_. He had had no idea how much his worries had been weighing him down until he had forgotten them for the duration of the flight. Of course, upon landing they had settled on his shoulders even heavier than before, but he had found a way of escaping, which had overpowered the painful anchor of expectations.

 

In the midst of his introspection, he feels an enthusiastic nudge on his rib cage. It's the only warning he gets before his visor is covered in slobber.

 

“Toothless! What are you doing!? I can’t see!”

 

The only answer he gets is an unrepentant growl.

 

The nudging continues.

 

“H-hey, hey wait!”

 

It isn’t until Toothless has nudged him upright and starts nosing around his back that he gets it.

 

“You want me to fly with you?”

 

It’s hard to tell because of the smudged visor, but the dark blob that is Toothless seems to be wiggling in delight.

 

“Okay! We’ll go fly! Just wait until I clear this up…”

 

He starts wiping up the visor, but only manages to spread the substance. He can hear vaguely laughter-like noises from before him.

 

“Oh come on! This is _your_ fault.”

 

A disbelieving noise.

 

“Oh yes it is!”

 

Hiccup groans in frustration and sweeps up some liquid from the pond. That seems to help somewhat since he’s able to see again, but there is still a some sticky residue left. Oh well, as long as he can see, it should be fine.

 

After making his pre-flight preparations, he sends a playful glance at Toothless and takes off just below a super-sonic speed.

 

He can only just catch an indignant shriek before he’s already touching the underbelly of the cloud cover. A heartbeat later he bursts to the other side, reaching the outer layers of the atmosphere.

 

The whole of space opens up right before his eyes. Vast, empty void, with multiple bright stars braving the cold, blank space between. There are the three moons and the Asphodel nebula, casting their blue and violet light upon Helheim. And somewhere far away, too far to even see from here, is the tiny planet Hiccup originates from.

 

It's breath-taking. 

 

For a long moment, Hiccup is frozen, suspended in the atmosphere, just trying to comprehend the indescribable sight upon him.

 

Then something _thwacks_ his chest.

 

He’s pushed back to the clouds and just before he’s swallowed by the grey-black veil, he sees a devious, mischievous glimmer in familiar green eyes.

 

_Oooooh, so that’s how you want to play this._

 

Hiccup narrows his eyes and gears up his engines, diving further into the clouds.

 

_Let’s see how your maneuverability compares to mine, then._

 

He can feel a wild grin stretching his mouth as he shoots to the left to avoid the playful dragon diving behind him.

 

 _Oh, it’s_ on _._

 

* * *

 

They play an aerodynamic version of tag for a long while before settling to flying side by side in the calm night of a foreign planet. They fly above the cloud cover, ostensibly not to be discovered by other dragons or humans, but mostly because it's so peaceful up here. Hiccup can feel his worries, his pains, his tension, all of it melting away at the sight of the stars and the comforting presence of the majestic creature beside him.

 

He sighs in absolute contentment and for another while they just glide smoothly.

 

After some time though, Toothless puffs up a small flame - almost lazily - in front of Hiccup. He swerves skillfully around it, provoking Toothless to fire up even more difficult blasts for Hiccup to evade, turning their peaceful evening flight into another game.

 

As he performs more and more outstanding aerobatics, Hiccup finds an indecipherable feeling growing inside him. It's something very warm. A mixture of wonder, joy, gratefulness and something else.

 

As he dodges yet another blast and smirks challengingly at Toothless, he's clobbered by a realisation.

 

_He's finally found a place to belong to, without any expectations or unnecessary burdens._

 

Found someone whose soul reflects his own.

 

And after they calm down again and fly alongside in the quietest hours of the night, he looks into the glowing green eyes, he sees the same overflowing love for flying, the same sense of yearning for the vast space and open skies, the same inherent, soul-deep desire for freedom that he finds in himself.

 

For the first time in his life, he has found a true friend.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even in canon, I feel like Hiccup wasn't all that close to the other teens before he met Toothless. He was probably the most comfortable with Fishlegs, but they weren't really best friends or anything, so Toothless was actually his first proper friend, and that's the facet I wanted to explore in this chapter. Whether you have only one or many true friends, true friendship is immeasurably precious, and that's why I adore the bond these two have. They would do anything for each other. <3
> 
> On a side note, I will be swamped with work for the next 4 weeks so updates will be very irregular, but I will try my best to write when I can!


	6. Expedition

Next morning, Hiccup somehow sleeps through all his four alarms (including Tuffnut's "surprise" one blasting through his door) and is greeted by the reddish, livid face of his father.

 

There's no "someone finally decided to show up for work, _yay_ " like there would be if it was Gobber waking him up. In its place there's a slow sigh that shoots an arrow of guilt right into his heart and a "it's already midday, son, you should've been at work hours ago" as well as a looong lecture about responsibility and being a _proper_ astronaut.

 

In short, nothing new. 

 

Hiccup is no stranger to his father's disappointment in him. It's never as ominous or hurtful as hatred or disgust, but Hiccup has always had the feeling that whatever he did, it wasn't enough. _He_ wasn't enough. And it all culminated in how he hadn't followed in his father's footsteps as a captain and had rather applied for the science department. Hiccup knows that his father has been so insistent only because he wants to hand over the leadership of _The Horrendous_ as well as the BERC (of which Stoick was the chairman) to his only son someday. And for that reason, Stoick had asked many, many, many time if he was _sure_ he wanted to apply for cybernetics, if he was _sure_ he couldn't take some captain classes on the side, if he was _absolutely certain_ that he didn't want to take charge of this mission or that one.

 

And whenever Hiccup tries to explain that yes, this is what he wants to do, not even a day passes before Stoick is back on his case, sneakily trying to fill his head with every tidbit of the captaincy curriculum. Sometimes he even considers taking one of the classes just to get his father off his back, but then he remembers how un-charismatic, non-leadership material person he is.

 

Usually when his father gets into these rants, he just zones out until something of special interest comes up. 

 

"...we're leaving in twenty minutes and I expect you to be at the bridge in full gear by then."

 

Something like that.

 

"Wh-what? Where are we going?" he sputters.

 

"Fishlegs wants a sample from the middle area of the planet so we'll take _Thornado_ and travel there on the surface, mapping the area further at the same time. No need to waste a trip. Gobber and Gothi are staying behind and serving as base contacts for us, but Gothi is sending her assistant along in case of an injury."

 

 _Thornado_ was the team's exploration shuttle. A small yet agile and durable thing that held a crew of eight. Usually the exploration team consisted of the captain, scientists, fighters, a pilot, an engineer and a medical officer. On this flight, they would be taking Fishlegs, the Thorston twins, Snotlout, Astrid, Alati, Hiccup and Stoick. Cooped up in a small space with that particular combination of people, Hiccup can already imagine the disasters and bickering that will follow. _Oh, the joy_.

 

With his piece said, Stoick glares hard one last time and leaves Hiccup's room.

 

Hiccup gives himself one tired sigh before he forces his feet from the sleeping pod and starts to prepare for the trip.

 

* * *

 

 

Half-way through getting into his regular suit, he realises that if he leaves now, he can't be here wiping out the logs.

 

He shrugs his suit on in record time, abandons his packing and sneaks to the bridge. He's in luck since everyone else seems to be packing as well and the bridge is thereby deserted.

 

Quickly he gobbles up an algorithm that creates false logs, sends the original ones to him and then erases them, installing it to the system.

 

Then he speed-sneaks back into his room, packs up everything he needs and hurries back to the bridge. Unsurprisingly he's the last one there, but at least he's only three minutes late.

 

He's met with two icy glares regardless.

 

After a sufficient amount of non-verbal reprimand, Stoick briefs them on the purpose of the journey, safety protocols and roles. It's very brief so they are walking to the shuttle in no time at all.

 

Hiccup feels a fleeting, but profound relief from being able to make Toothless' new tail in time before the expedition. Now his scaly friend can hunt for his food on his own again.

 

He also feels a pang of sadness about having to abandon his friend so soon, but this is his actual job and it takes a priority. _About time. You've been wasting your efforts on that dragon-creature way more than what you've done for your real job_ , a faint voice at the back of his head that sounds remarkably like his father scoffs.

 

Hiccup shakes his head to get rid of the unwanted thoughts - _he's my friend, he_ deserves _my help_ \- and follows the others into _Thornado_.

 

* * *

 

 

The take-off is easy. They leave at midday, admiring the weird rock formations ("Look! That rock looks just like a dog! We'll name it 'The Dug Formation'. No, Tuff, we don't need to name every single rock on this planet.") and rushing rivers on the way.

 

In contrast to the blue and purple nights, the daylight on Helheim is glaringly white, so much so that all of the crew needs to tint their visors to the second strongest light filter.

 

Even though their shuttle is able to go up to sonic speed, the mapping program requires a slower speed, so their journey is estimated to take at least seven Earth days instead of a couple of hours. Plus, it never hurts to approach uncharted areas with extra-caution, as his father says.

 

The first night of the trip is the first one in a long while that Hiccup is able to sleep through in its entirety and when he wakes up the next morning, he feels groggy, but much more rested that before.

 

The second day of the trip passes without any accidents or mishaps as well and rejuvenated by his fully slept night, Hiccup volunteers to stay up for the night shift. They usually have at least one of eight awake on the bridge in case of an emergency. They all have some forms of battle and pilot training, so they can all sub for the flight pilot or battle pilot for a little while at least.

 

Unluckily, Astrid seems to have decided that sleep is for the weak and she would rather stay up and make sure that Hiccup doesn't accidentally reset their nav system. (To be fair, it was only _one_ time. And it had happened during training, not a real flight!)

 

The silence that descends on the bridge is pressing on Hiccup's eardrums and he feels a trickle of sweat sliding down his back.

 

"Uhh... Hi Astrid," he mutters from the pilot seat (it's the comfiest, of course he would sit here even if it's usually mainly Astrid's domain).

 

She marches towards him with an absolutely blank face.

 

"Did you not want me to sit...?" He scratches his cheek and chuckles sheepishly.

 

Astrid is right in front of him, staring imperiously down her nose.

 

Those ice-blue eyes freeze him for a second and it's not until Astrid grabs his arm and yanks him off the chair that he gets his body to scramble off her way.

 

He's hit with a sudden bout of déjà-vu, although this time there aren't any scathing, scolding remarks, just icy stares.

 

He can't stop staring dazedly all the same.

 

Astrid has been his first and only crush ever since they were little. Their mothers had been good friends and they had been each other's best friends in childhood, but his mother's death had distanced their families and by the time they met again in university, they had grown apart as well.

 

Sometimes Hiccup mourned the bright, laughing girl that had transformed into cold, emotionless and driven "Pilot of the Year"-Astrid Hofferson.

 

It didn't stop him from trying to find her again though.

 

"Sooooo... How're things? Got enough rest back at the base?"

 

Silence.

 

"What do you think of the rations? I mean all of them taste like cardboard but I found a couple labelled 'mutton' that are not so-"

 

"Would you just please shut up?" Astrid whirls the pilot chair towards him. "This is a night shift, we need to be vigilant and I certainly don't need any extra sensory distractions disrupting my concentration. Just -  keep to your own screen please."

 

At the exact same time when Astrid starts her lecture, Hiccup catches a white flash behind her. He narrows his eyes, trying to catch a better look when Astrid snaps her fingers in front of his face.

 

"Are you even listening?!"

 

"Y-yes, yes! Absolutely! I'll be shutting up now!" he stutters, still staring at the white _dragonesque_ spot on the sky, trying feverishly to come up with an excuse to stop Astrid from turning around. Before he can fabricate one, Astrid is already turning around with a frustrated huff and the white dragon seems to _disappear_ in another lengthy flash.

 

"Did you see that? That looked like a shooting star! They look quite different here, don't they?" Astrid enthuses before remembering who she's talking to. At Hiccup's tight, almost panicky  _mhm_ , she turns quickly away and hops back to her seat, resuming her unfaltering stare at the sky.

 

Hiccup scrambles hastily back to his own seat and quickly checks the scans from his screen. Luckily, there's no movement nearby. He keeps the sigh of relief locked behind his teeth to avoid any suspicion from Astrid and vows to himself to keep a keen eye on the scans and the mapping program.

 

If there are more dragons (and he chides himself for thinking there weren't), they would need to be even more careful. In all probability, not all of them are as friendly as Toothless.

 

Suddenly he's very glad that he took _Inferno_ with him. He might very well need its higher durability.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Life is finally calming down a bit so I've had time to write at last! Here's a little treat for your patience:
> 
> Hiccup: Engineering Admin Assistant; takes care of the ship (keeps up the programs for life support, communication, logs etc and runs all over the ship doing the maintenance work Gobber doesn't care to do)
> 
> Stoick: Captain; leads the missions, distributes duties & is responsible for the safety of the crew. Hiccup's dad and a chairman of BERC.
> 
> Gobber: Chief Engineer; takes care of the ship. He mostly hangs out in the engine room.
> 
> Astrid: First Pilot; takes care of situations that require manual flying, like combat or landing. Also a Chief Officer, since she's in-training to become a captain; keeps the ship running smoothly and the crewmen in order. She is super strict and efficient.
> 
> Fishlegs: Chief Science Officer; gathers intel on different planets' eco systems, gathers samples etc. Majored in biology. Keeps holocards of fauna and flora from every planet he visits.
> 
> Ruffnut: Chief Navigator; in charge of the ship's position in space and charting the way to the destination. Also a Head of Chemistry, specialising in chemical analysis. Loves to experiment.
> 
> Tuffnut: Communication Officer; in charge of the shipwide communication as well as paging other ships. Also a Head of Geoscience, specialising in foreign geology. Especially interested in finding exploding rocks.
> 
> Snotlout: Combat Specialist; responsible for board security on-planet and off-planet. Also a Combat Pilot, taking charge of some of the weapons systems in combat. Known for winning the Blaster Challenge for 3 years straight.
> 
> Gothi: Chief Medical Officer. In charge of the crew's general health. Lives deep inside the ship in a dark lair that everyone avoids as much as possible.
> 
> Most of the titles are from a reddit article on spacecraft positions located here: https://www.reddit.com/r/worldbuilding/comments/31ijjh/i_made_a_list_of_a_starships_crew_with_detailed/


	7. Hiccup Lost and Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hiccup is struggling and the expedition reaches the Misty Mountain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Un-betaed.

The rest of the night watch processes in heavy silence and the next day they both get to sleep longer to compensate for the shift.

As it is, it isn't until late afternoon that Hiccup resembles a human being again. Luckily there hadn't been any further dragon sightings during the day so Hiccup could plan their first approach slightly more calmly.

He is almost sure that any dragons other than Toothless would be very aggressive on seeing a strange metal contraption moving towards their territory. Toothless had been very aware and protective of his own space, so it would make sense if the other dragons are protective too. To make things worse, they are most likely on the way to the dragons' main nesting site since there hadn't been any dragon sightings before yesterday; the dragons would probably be more concentrated on their nesting area.

If he is correct and they are about to enter a nesting area, the likelihood of dragons being hostile grows exponentially. Throw in his dad's propensity to annihilate every seeming danger, the scale of this fuck-up shoots up from " _not good_ " to " _oh, we're dead_ ".

That means he needs a plan.

His first idea is to track down Toothless and somehow get him to warn the other dragons not to engage.

The problem with that plan is that he is needed here more than back on the base, and it would be noticed if he left to find him (no matter that he probably couldn't find him).

Maybe a dragon-repellent? 

No, he doesn't have enough time.

Nor does he have time for a dragon-human translator or a deeper behaviour analysis.

In short, he doesn't have enough time, enough information, enough _anything_ to do something useful. Which, to be honest, is a feeling he has had his whole life, but it's worse now because this time he could have done something actually  _important_ , something his father-.

Nope. Not going there.

Anyway, the painful conclusion Hiccup arrives at while taking care of the daily maintenance of the shuttle is this: _He can't do anything_.

The only thing he _can_ do is to wait for the inevitable dragon contact and devise some ways to prevent his father from going straight to fighting mode and make dragons look like less like fire-breathing monsters and more like an amazing alien race possibly originating from the Earth and therefore worth protecting.

Knowing his father's dedication to protecting his crew - even if it means destroying an intelligent alien race - his odds are slim. Even BERC guidelines are against him; if something seems like a threat to the research group, the first response has to be securing the team in _any_ way possible. That is why they have so much advanced weaponry and fighters on board.

In the end, he can hash out as many possible speeches and responses as he can, and his father would still neutralise the threat first, ask questions later.

And as the days go by, Hiccup can feel his stress levels gradually rising as a day after day passes without a single dragon in sight, his mind playing endless scenarios of just how many things can go wrong when they eventually appear.

Yet, the seventh day dawns (not that they see it from all the mist and smoke floating around) and there's still no sign of them.

 

* * *

 

The ground team is him, Fishlegs, Astrid and Snotlout. The twins and Alati will be staying on the ship and Stoick will stay as well (mostly to keep an eye on the twins, though he would never admit it). The ground team gets a few rations to store away into the utility belts of their regulation space suits and ray guns "in case of emergency". All BERC personnel are taught to fight, although combat specialists are usually way more talented in it.

(He's really bad at hand-to-hand combat, but shooting is actually something Hiccup is quite good at. Not that anyone really knows about it; at tests he had pretended to be awful at it since he didn't want to end up in an occupation where he would have to hurt things. It's one of the facts his father is most disappointed about - Stoick is one of the best shooters in the troops.)

Adequately equipped, the ground team departs into the mists with Astrid taking the lead.

They've observed quite a lot on their quest here. As they've traveled further and further away from the base, the sand has given away to large piles of rubble and shingle beaches and rock formations. Even the rock types have changed from sedimentary rocks to lava rocks and igneous rocks. Now all they can see are igneous rocks, some glassy and some porous, but all pitch-black and ominous, springing up on them from the mists.

They have to be very careful where they step since the ground is filled with lava rocks, which have a special affinity for rolling out from under their feet. The mists also make it difficult to see even a few meters ahead, so Astrid used a reinforced rope to bind the team together so no one would accidentally roll into a ravine anywhere - not without alerting the rest of the team at least.

Fishlegs has already found some thermophilic microorganisms in the small ponds that they have found scattered here and there. He's also convinced that there are underground rivers somewhere nearby because they can hear a distant whoosh on the background and it seems to be coming from the east. 

They're just about to round a corner in the hunt of the rivers, when Hiccup runs into Fishlegs.

"Ouch! Wha-"

"Shhh!" Astrid's voice cut through the mist sharply.

There’s an audible _gulp_ as he swallows the rest of his sentence.

He can only barely see Astrid’s shadow through the water vapor slowly inching closer to the corner, blaster ready.

“Be ready to dive for safety, if this goes wrong.”

Hiccup is just about to ask _if what goes wrong_ , when Astrid lunges.

_“No-!“_

“Hey!”

“Watch it!”

“Tuff! Ruff! _What are you doing here_?!”

Slowly, two more humanoid shapes emerge from the mist, walking closer until they can distinguish two distinctly _Thorston-shaped_ forms. Hiccup sighs deeply in relief, letting go of his panic button.

“We were bored so we snuck out,” Ruffnut says nonchalantly.

“Yeah, and this area is volcanic. There must be some exploding rocks somewhere! Exploding rocks! How amazing _is_ that? Unpredictable, destructive, glorious – just like me! I’ve gotta find them!”

“Tuffnut, no! You know you’re not allowed to come to the field after you smuggled that weird black-purple stone on-board in Knowhere and it almost crashed our whole ship with its’ power pulse!” Astrid glares intimidatingly at Tuffnut.

“But Macy was so pretty!” he whines.

“I. Don’t. Care.”

Tuffnut says something again, but it fades to the background as Hiccup sees something moving from the corner of his eye. A large something. A _familiar_ something. His eyes widen in horror and he can feel icy dread flooding his veins, freezing him in place.

_No, no, no, don’t come here, why would you come here-_

_Oh no he’s getting closer, I need to get him away before the others-_

The next thing he knows, he’s screaming as the ground disappears from under him, the air and mist and smoke swirling around him in wild patterns, the world tilting in time with wing-beats.

“HICCUP!”

“What was _that_?!”

“Hiccup, answer me, what’s happening!”

The others shouting through his comm-link only serves to disorientate him more. He shuts his eyes to reduce nausea coming from the bouncing horizon and to concentrate on what to do now. He could just disable the comm-link and the others think it got destroyed when Toothless snagged him from the ground, but then they would come searching for him, which is bound to make even more problems, if Toothless is flying him where he thinks he’s flying him.

So, no that’s not an option.

Deciding to take a leap of faith, Hiccup goes for the option two (now option one) and shouts into the increasing pandemonium of voices,

“I’m okay! Guys, I’m okay!!”

There’s a beat of silence before someone (who sounds suspiciously like Astrid, but no it can’t be her) sighs in relief.

“Where are you?” Fisher asks, whispering fearfully for some reason.

“I- um, I’m dangling from some creature’s claws, around 600 meters from the ground.”

“And how is that seem _okay_ to you?” Astrid’s voice is heavy with frigid sarcasm.

“Uh, cause the creature- it’s holding onto me quite tightly and doesn’t currently seem keen on eating me or anything.”

“ _Currently_?!” Astrid’s voice rings deafeningly through his head, causing him to flinch.

Toothless peers down at him curiously at the surprising movement, and when Hiccup gives a shaky smile to show he’s okay, his friend warbles happily, his mouth stretched into a goofy, dragonesque imitation of a grin. Hiccup can feel his heart melting at the sight, taking away some of the stress with it. Astrid’s voice crashes him back to reality.

“What was that noise?!”

“Oh, uh, it’s- it’s nothing! You’re just hearing things! Anyway, I think we’re going to land soon, I don’t think it’s going to eat me, it was probably just curious, you _don’t_ need to come get me, I’ll be just fine. I’ll just be observing the local fauna, taking some notes for Fishlegs and come right back when I can. Oh, we’re landing, see ya, bye!”

He winces at the ear-splitting screech that starts on the other end before he can cut off the comm-link. He’s most definitely in for a lecture from both Astrid _and_ his father when he gets back, but hopefully his admittedly quite flimsy reassurances will be enough to keep the others back for just enough time that Hiccup can somehow explain to the dragons that they need to stay out of sight.

Hopefully.

 

* * *

 

After gaining some distance to the exploration group, Toothless lets him down on a rocky outcrop and lands beside him with a soft _thump_.

Despite all the headaches and stress this whole mess has made him go through, he’s really glad to see his friend. Even if they’ve only known each other for a handful of days, he can honestly say that he missed him during the days they were apart. He’s missed someone who he can talk to without fear of being judged or ridiculed, someone who understands parts of him others don’t seem to get. Like the need to get out once in a while, just leave everything behind and _be free_.

It’s all those things and that something more, something like _trust_ he sees reflected in Toothless’ green eyes as he faces him now.

“Hey buddy! I missed you so much!” he scratches Toothless all over and the dragon wiggles in excitement and happiness, poking him all over with his nose and licking him (Hiccup is just on time in preventing him from licking his visor this time) in welcome.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s good to see you too, bud! Stop it!” he laughs.

Toothless grumbles in mock-annoyance, but leans back on his haunches, mouth stretched into that gum-less smile again, his tongue lolling out excitedly. At the sight of it, Hiccup can’t help but to throw himself into a playful wrestling match, going back and forth for nearly ten minutes and ending – unsurprisingly – in Toothless’ win, before he has to get serious again.

“Toothless. Why did kidnap me like that? Is something wrong? Did the prosthetic break?”

It doesn’t seem to be, but it might malfunction in a way that doesn’t show right away. or maybe it doesn’t work in a not-everyday function that Hiccup doesn’t know about since he’s not a dragon. Yet as he tries to take a better look, Toothless swings his tail away from him. At his more serious tone, Toothless’ languid and relaxed body language has stiffened with alertness and focus, but the danger doesn’t seem to be immediate since he just looks over Hiccup’s standard BERC suit before snorting and nudging Hiccup towards his back.

“Wha-? You want me to- to get on? You’re going to give me a lift?” he asks incredulously. “Where are we going?”

Toothless just stares at him imploringly (and a little impatiently).

“Okay, okay!” he acquiesces and climbs on.

 

* * *

 

Flying on a dragon and flying with a dragon are both very different and very similar experiences.

Flying with a dragon – or at least flying with Toothless – feels like a coordinated dance, all about reading each other’s movements and adjusting your own to the other’s. It’s about taking mirroring steps; equal movements in perfect harmony, but ultimately each flying on their own.

Flying on a dragon, now that’s more like becoming a _part_ of the other’s dance. He can feel Toothless’ muscles shifting beneath him, he can feel the air current that his wings whoosh out, he can feel the changes in direction the tail dictates. He can feel all that almost as if this was his own body. Soon enough he’s leaning with Toothless as they dodge around stone pillars and rock formations. It’s all instinctual, coming from deep down inside, like a muscle memory that’s been half-forgotten. It’s _amazing_.

“This is amazing!”

Toothless snorts a little fire blast in agreement. Hiccup flattens on Toothless back to avoid it before chastising, “Hey, watch it! This suit isn’t as fireproof as the other one!”

Toothless grumbles something that sounds disconcertingly like “blah, blah, blah” for Hiccup’s comfort.

“Hey, are you even liste-WHOAH!” his sentence gets stuck in his throat as Toothless finally shoots into a faster speed.

They don’t go even near sound-speed since Toothless seems to understand that his current suit can’t endure as much as his usual one, but it still takes most of his concentration to stay on Toothless as they whizz past more and more tall, jagged hillsides slowly turning into deep ravines. He can also hear the distant rush of the presumable underground river morphing into a dull and then almost deafening roar, more like a-

_Waterfall._

It opens up abruptly in front of them, emerging from the mists without any warning. Toothless comes to a momentary stop then, wings churning the water vapor around them into swirling patterns, giving Hiccup a second to catch his breath and admire the sight that has revealed itself to them.

And _wow_ , it is a _sight_.

There’s a huge mountain in front of them, so vast that he can’t see its outer edges on any side. Not above them, not on the left nor the right. And for some outstanding, physics-defying reason, the waterfall goes _up_ the mountainside.

A massive wall of water emerging from deep underground just shooting in a steadily upwards in a straight wall, disappearing into the clouds.

And Toothless seems to think they need to fly _over_ it.

“No, no, wait-,“ Hiccup tries to say, but Toothless is already moving.

They’re climbing up and up and up until Hiccup feels that even with the helmet it’s getting hard to breathe and even Toothless’ is straining from the waterfall’s wake, his wings flapping in big whumps, trying to get enough traction to go forward. As Toothless’ scales become increasingly slippery from the continuous spray of the waterfall, Hiccup starts to miss his own suit more and more. At least with that on, he could catch himself before he hit the ground.

With a last great slam of bat-like wings, Toothless hurtles over the waterfall.

For a moment there’s only whiteness all around him; the clouds and the water froth. He can’t even see Toothless and for a moment he’s terrified that he’s fallen off, but sure enough, he can still feel him under his legs and hands. It’s still strange, not seeing anything, but feeling Toothless’ strong wings gliding horizontally through the fog and tipping down, down, down until all of a sudden it feels like they’re _free falling_.

Wait, they _are_ free falling!

Hiccup scrunches his eyes closed and holds on desperately.

They fall for a long time, long enough for Hiccup to feel his throat growing hoarse and realising he’s been shouting the whole time and long enough for the temperature to rise gradually. Then, just as Hiccup’s stupid brain has calculated that if the ground is as far as it is on the other side, they should be hitting the ground any second now, Toothless spreads out his wings slows their descent into a controlled tumble rather than a free fall.

They hit the ground with a startlingly gentle roll, Toothless swiping Hiccup into the cocoon of his legs and wings as they finally come to a stop.

Toothless starts to unfurl almost immediately, but Hiccup takes a moment just to breathe and calm his racing heart.

“Whew. That was something all right. What did you do that for?” he glares weakly at the dragon, earning himself a rumbling laugh and a smug expression.

“Oooooh, I see how it is, you just had to show off, didn’t you? No thought to my poor heart or health? Of course not. Now help me up, would you, you impossible reptile?”

Toothless lets out a last amused rumble before bowing his head under Hiccup’s arm as he stands up slowly.

“Now what did you want to show me so much that you had to drag me through a literal vertical water-WHOAAAA,” he exclaims as he straightens up and casts his eyes up.

There’s a valley. A beautiful, deep valley surrounded by mountains just as big as the one they just scaled up and down. The valley is full of exotic-looking, colourful plants, rivers and a big lake. The waterfall behind them flows down into and through the lake towards the other side of the valley, where it seems to flow up another mountain and disappear into the clouds again.

And everywhere, absolutely everywhere, are _dragons_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I'm back again!  
> As I suspected, I was too busy and subsequently too tired to write anything during the summer. And as this autumn is going to be even more packed than last spring, I can't promise regular updates anymore. (I've also started a couple more stories, which will take up my time as well, sorry.)  
> But I WILL finish this story at some point, rest assured! I already have the climax and the ending thought out, so I only have to write them down along with everything in between (easier said than done, I know, but I will do it, as soon as I can).  
> And thanks to a tip from Crystal Hearted, I'm also trying out writing without the extra space between paragraphs! Please tell me if it feels better or worse to read!  
> If you made it this far, thank you for reading and thank you for your patience. You're all amazing!


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